Jewels
by MahouBunnyBell
Summary: The story of the Jumi of Legend of Mana, starting with Florina's birth and moving forward.


**Title:** Jewels- Book One, Chapter One  
**Fandom:** Legend of Mana  
**Wordcount:** 3034  
**Notes:** This is my pet project- a chronicling of the Jumi from Legend of Mana starting with Florina's birth and going from there. I'm aiming to stay true to all the canon that we are given and at the same time create something that even people unfamiliar with the series can enjoy. I hope you all enjoy it, please remember to comment!

* * *

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The sound of a small waterfall echoed through the cave, providing a constant backdrop. Other than that it was silent- at least apart from the occasional vibrating of pebbles as something moved about elsewhere, nearer to the entrance of the cavern. The chamber was out of the way of the path most people (and animals) took through, and so it was left undisturbed. Just the darkness and the echoing of the waterfall.

And mixed in with that, the sound of a new life taking it's first breaths. A life in the form of a small, nude child laying on the cold floor of the cave, not far from the small stream. She had formed there, around a core of fluorite. A baby jumi.

_Wake up! It's time to wake up! You're not alone anymore!_

The fluorite core resonated in response to something, and the child's small eyes fluttered open. There was a moment of confusion and fear- of moving in the darkness and trying to take in all that the world had to offer- but that passed quickly enough and her eyes focused on the distant glow of a light reflecting off the stalagmites.

_You're not alone anymore. These are your people._

The child pulled herself to her feet and started off towards the light. She didn't know why, but something deep inside her stone heart was urging her forward to find whoever was there. She couldn't say no to it.

And so she headed towards her destiny.

* * *

"Dammit, we've lost their trail." Blackpearl cursed, kicking a loose stone on the ground into the wall out of frustration. Her companion, another young jumi knight by the name of Spinel, just shrugged. He hadn't really been expecting to catch up with the bandits they'd been trailing anyway.

It had just seemed like it had been worth a shot to see if they could. Those assholes were carrying off jumi cores, after all. If they had been able to catch them maybe they would have been able to save those lives.

"Oh well. I guess we should be heading back for the city then." Spinel suggested with a shrug, even though it didn't really matter if they returned right away or not. Both Blackpearl and himself were very young jumi- not even a hundred years old yet- and didn't really have much of a place back in the city. It was just safer there, especially as neither of them had guardians yet.

"DAMN it!" Blackpearl cursed again, punching the wall of the cavern in frustration and wincing as the solid stone wall hurt her hand. Spinel just waited calmly for the other knight to calm down.

"We wouldn't have been able to fight them all even if we had caught them, Blackpearl. It's better if we just head home and train more. We'll have another chance."

"But what about THIS chance? What about the jumi those fuckers already killed! If we could hunt them down and get the cores back then the Clarius would be able to revive them!" Blackpearl hit the wall again, with her battle hammer this time. It made the wall shake and dislodged a few stalactites from the ceiling of the cave. That made her feel a little better about the whole situation and how hopeless it all was.

"It's like they say. You can't save everyone. You can just protect yourself and one other." Spinel pointed out, sighing some at how depressing it was to find that advice seemed to be true. The harsh reality of jumi society hadn't really sunk in for him and Blackpearl yet. They still wanted- and tried- to save everyone.

It was slowly being beaten into them though, the futility of the situation the jumi found themselves in. A world where those who weren't jumi viewed them as objects and stole their crystal hearts to sell for exorbitant amounts of money to magicians that wanted the magic jumi cores contained. Magic that allowed the jumi to cry healing tears.

They'd probably hunt them even if it weren't for that, though. People walking around with giant gemstones embedded in their chests? The number of people that valued a life more that a chance for riches seemed to be few and far between.

"Fine, fine. Let's head back." Blackpearl conceded with a grumble, turning around and scanning her surroundings. "...Which way is back again?"

"Um... Good point. I'm not really sure."

"Wow you're useless." Blackpearl griped, flipping her blond hair over her shoulder and turning to go investigate the area they had just come from. Retracing their steps seemed like a good way to get themselves out of this underground maze. The only problem would be the fact that she couldn't actually identify the way that they came from with just the light from the torch they were carrying.

"You aren't much better, Blackpearl. I guess we should just... head down one of these tunnels and hope we eventually end up on the surface?" Spinel suggested, pausing as he felt a weak response to something in his core. Blackpearl must have felt it too, because she stopped her pointless pacing around in frustration to look surprised.

The reaction came again, resonating in their cores. Something was calling out to them from somewhere.

"It's coming from this way, I think." Spinel offered, holding the torch in the direction he figured the call must be coming from. Blackpearl took a couple steps forward before faltering.

"What is it? Do you have any idea?" Spinel was slightly older than Blackpearl was, and as such he sometimes knew more about things than she did. Not often, of course, but sometimes. It was worth asking- Blackpearl didn't like moving forward if she didn't know what was going on.

"I'm not sure, but it's kind of like the feeling when we go home, right? Maybe there's another jumi here?" Spinel offered, though he honestly wasn't that sure. This was a little different that usual. Still, in his opinion there was no reason not to go towards whatever was calling to them.

Blackpearl seemed satisfied enough with that answer and continued on her way down the tunnel, with Spinel tagging along after her with the torch. It definitely wasn't the way out of the cave- the tunnel was narrow and clearly had not been ventured down in many years.

"I don't think anyone's been down here recently." Blackpearl muttered, though she still pressed on down the tunnel. "I'm definitely sensing something though."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Spinel replied, before silencing at the sound of motion nearby. A monster? Many beasts lived in the caverns... it made sense that they might find one. Still holding the torch in one hand he used the other to reach for his hand axe. Blackpearl also seemed to get the message, and tightened her grip on her hammer in preparation for an attack.

But instead of a monster the form that moved out of the shadows was that of a very young, very naked little girl with long brown hair and a purplish stone glimmering in her chest. Blackpearl nearly dropped her hammer.

"A baby!" Spinel managed to declare, a little more composed than his companion was currently. Blackpearl quickly pulled herself together, however, and bent down to examine the young jumi for any injuries or flaws in her development.

"Fluorite, huh..." Blackpearl murmured, looking at the core of the newborn jumi. The baby just tipped her head to the side quizzically, before opening her mouth to speak.

"Are you who I was waiting for?"

Blackpearl opened her mouth to reply to the child that yeah, she was waiting for other jumi to come find her, but Spinel quickly cut in, not about to remain silent.

"Of course we are, little lady. And how glad we are to meet you as well!" He offered up as he handed the torch to Blackpearl, taking off his cape and wrapping it around the nude child. She was probably cold, after all. "Now, you'll be needing a name... let's see, fluorite..."

"How about Florina?" Blackpearl suggested, not about to let her companion get all the glory. Spinel shrugged in agreement and looked to the young jumi.

"What do you think, little lady? Doesn't seem like a bad name." He pointed out. The baby jumi looked thoughtful, and then nodded.

"I'm Florina." She declared. Blackpearl smiled in response.

"Good to meet you, Florina. I'm Blackpearl, and this is Spinel." She offered up as a proper introduction. Spinel nodded in approval.

"You're lucky we found you, little lady. You're pretty hidden away here. Finding your way to Etansel on your own would have been hard." He pointed out. Florina just looked a little confused.

"Etansel?"

"It's home. A really wonderful place, full of people like us!" Spinel insisted, though apparently not vocalizing it's greatness very well. Florina still looked very confused as to what he was talking about.

So Blackpearl stepped in to explain in a simpler fashion.

"We'll take you there." It was the best that Blackpearl could offer. After all, there was no way to explain what a wonderful place Etansel was... a whole city full of only jumi. None of the humans or faeries who hunted them- just other jumi. And the feeling of comfort that came with being around other jumi... It wouldn't make sense to a newborn like Florina. It just had to be experienced.

There was one problem, however.

"So, any idea how to get out of here?"

"Shit!"

* * *

When Diana closed her eyes she saw horrible things- a hallway filled with statues that were once living people, armies of both faeries and humans ready to kill any jumi they found. Memories of a darker era. Times ten time darker than they were now.

She should have gotten over it by now. That time had ended long before she had taken power, back when the diamond jumi was still young and the entire race hadn't been united. Back before they had formed Etansel. But she wasn't over it. How could she get over it?

"Bad dreams again? You're grimacing." A voice cut in to Diana's reminiscing, and the woman's eyes fluttered open to the sight of her knight.

"Time to wake up already? I feel like I just laid down." Diana commented dryly to the ruby jumi, who shrugged in response and held out a hand to help her up.

"You practically did. Try to be careful not to overwork yourself." Ruebens wasn't really going to do much more than making that comment, however. He worked just as hard as Diana did for the sake of this city. Maybe even harder, as he was working for Diana's happiness as well.

"I'll be fine as long as my core is intact. Any word from the scouts we sent out after those bandits yet?"

"They actually just arrived back not long ago. They recovered five jumi cores. The clarius should be able to revive them. Two of the younger knights that went after the bandits are still missing, though."

Diana sighed and allowed Ruebens to help her into her dress. Lost jumi, lovely. Hopefully their cores weren't replacing the ones recovered. The city needed all the fighters it could get to ensure a strong future. "Who are the missing knights?"

"Spinel and Blackpearl. They're both talented enough fighters, but neither is older than two hundred." Ruebens replied as he helped pin up Diana's hair, before stepping back to admire his work. Lovely, as always. Certainly there was nobody in the world more dedicated or noble than his Diana.

Diana didn't seem to pick up on his clear admiration.

"Blackpearl... I've noticed her. She's the rash one with the hammer, right? You've been eying her for the royal guard, so she must be promising."

"She also has an extremely poor sense of direction. Hopefully that's the only reason they ended up separated from the other scouts." Ruebens offered, heading out the doorway and towards the throne room with Diana to officially start the day.

Diana nodded in response. "Hopefully. It would be a shame to loose such young ones... can we spare enough people to send out a patrol looking for them?"

"We can't justify it for just two jumi, especially since they could be alive and well."

"True. Well then, I suppose it's up to them to make it home."

And so a new day began in Etansel.

* * *

"Are you sure we're going the right way? This doesn't feel right!"

"You've been leading us in circles for hours, Blackpearl. I get to lead the way now."

"I'm telling you, this is the wrong way!"

"And I'm telling you that you don't know right from left!"

It was the same argument that had been going on for the past four hours, since Spinel had realized that they had in fact been wandering in circles. And Florina really didn't understand all the hostility. Surely they would find their way to where they were going eventually, right?

Where were they going, anyway? To the place the older jumi had been talking about?

Stopping for a moment Florina glanced down a pathway that seemed to lead further into the caverns. Something down the hallway moved, and Florina blinked.

"Huh? Are you tired, Florina? We can rest if you're having trouble keeping up." Blackpearl offered, noticing that their new companion had stopped moving before Spinel did and stopping to look back at the child. Spinel stopped too, but only when he realized that nobody was following him anymore.

"Oh! I'm fine. I just thought that I saw something moving down there." There was nothing moving now, though. Maybe it had just been a trick of the light?

Spinel and Blackpearl seemed to agree that it was better to err on the side of caution, though, and the male jumi held the torch out to better illuminate the hallway. Sure enough, there in the middle of the passage sat what appeared to be some kind of old man, though he certainly wasn't human. He was short with a broad, hunched back and webbed fingers that made him look vaguely fish like.

He didn't seem surprised by the presence of the three jumi at all.

"You three have been wandering for quite some time. If you're looking for the exit, you just have to continue in this direction." The old man offered, pointing a weathered finger down the pathway he sat in. Blackpearl narrowed her eyes, wary of the stranger's advice.

"Who are you?" It was straight to the point, but that didn't seem to throw the old man off at all.

"This is my home. My kingdom." He replied, getting up and slowly walking over to the group. Both Spinel and Blackpearl moved in front of Florina, reaching for their weapons, but the old man just let out a chuckle. "Don't worry, I'm not after your cores."

"I've heard that one before. Why should we trust you?" Spinel questioned, neither he or Blackpearl lowering their weapons. The old man shook his head and continued on past them.

"There is no reason to trust anyone." The old man mused, before stopping and looking directly at Florina. "Can you cry, child? Fewer and fewer children can, these days."

Florina blinked, unsure how to respond to that question, and the older jumi moved forward with their weapons, ready to strike the old man down. He didn't even flinch though. He only resumed walking, on his way further into the cave. There was no explicit reason to strike him down as he left, even if he had made rather off-putting comments, so Blackpearl and Spinel just watched him go, before looking in the direction he had claimed was the way out. There was no reason not to at least try it.

As they headed down the path towards the alleged exit Florina reached out a hand to tug some on Blackpearl's skirt, causing the older jumi to turn her head and look at her.

"What is it?"

"Can _you_ cry?" It was an innocent enough question, but there was an awkward pause as Blackpearl seemed to debate what to say to that. Finally the jumi of pearl shook her head.

"About one in four jumi these days are born without the ability to cry. I'm that one in four." She offered, feeling somewhat ashamed even though she knew it wasn't that big of a deal. She was a knight- it would never be her job to heal anyway. She was supposed to do the defending. She would eventually get herself a guardian to do the healing. And since she couldn't heal her core wasn't as valuable to jewel thieves who might want to sell it to magicians for exorbitant sums.

Still, how pathetic was it? A jumi that couldn't cry? So what if it made her core a little less appealing to thieves.

"What about you, Florina? Are you able to cry?" Spinel asked, trying to lighten the mood some. His attention was quickly diverted by a ray of daylight, though. "What do you know! The old bag wasn't lying!"

"No way! I was sure he was full of shit!"

Within moments Florina found herself scooped up onto Blackpearl's back as the two knights moved eagerly towards the light. A few more twists and turns down the hallway and there they were at the entrance of the caverns.

And as Florina felt her first rays of sunlight ever dance across her skin she found herself answering the question that both Spinel and the old man had asked her.

"Yes, I'm sure I can."

"Huh?" Blackpearl asked, the conversation they'd been having not long before having totally slipped her mind. Florina just smiled and looked up at the sun.

"I know I could cry."

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tbc


End file.
